Neusch News…!

Well it’s time to let you in on why I’ve been absent, taking naps, and not eating anything green… We’ll be welcoming a new Neusch into the family in December so I’ve been managing first trimester pregnant life!

It’s such a privilege to get to carry a little life inside me, be a mama, the whole journey is the best thing in the world…. and it’s also a journey. Last time it was a journey of bread and cottage cheese, and 6pm bedtimes but a very simple happy healthy pregnancy. This time so far it’s been simple too which I’m so grateful for but honestly I’ve been a lot sicker, and a lot more tired so I’m adjusting to being a bit less productive and eating whatever I can stomach.

I haven’t been craving much, but rather trying to work out what feels edible and then eating, and eating, and eating to stop the nausea. I’ll be honest it was a challenge to be ok with constantly eating. I made a point of not gaining weight with the last pregnancy and I know I’m gaining more this time but you know, if that’s what it takes to be healthy, I’ll do it.  My top priority is being there for Clayton and Jared, and taking care of this little new life so if I have to eat 10 meals a day to not be sick, I’ll take all the extra pounds that gives me!

Last time I didn’t eat that differently, bar a lot of extra toast and cottage cheese and a little less coffee, but this time I’ve had a LOT more food aversions.  Yes, there was a night when the only things I could imagine not making me gag were In n Out fries. I made Jared bring them home to stop me feeling sick and ate them at 5am, it worked.  Mostly though I’m still eating the same way that I do but working with what my stomach can tolerate. Tahini, aminos, nut butter, my homemade bread, most sweet stuff, and all forms of sunflower seeds are OUT. And Chipotle’s salad dressing, Fire bowls from our local Fresh Fire Grill, and all grilled chicken and meat are IN.

This is my personal conviction so I don’t think this is right for everyone but I don’t avoid much during pregnancy. I still eat raw eggs, rare steak, and I drink caffeine, and yes alcohol.  But like normal life I do it in real moderation, I’ll have no more than one cup of caffeinated coffee a day (I keep it under 200mg) and I’ll have 2 sips of wine to taste it. I made sure I eat high quality eggs, and not from anywhere dodgy. I limit the fish I eat (for mercury) but I still eat it.  I make sure I eat as high quality and organically as I can knowing that what I’m eating is growing a baby, and I take a good prenatal vitamin, and a DHA supplement. Otherwise I go about life as normal!

Outside of the kitchen I don’t change much in my life. I’m still working out 5 times a week which helped me a ton last time round, and with a son who is well over 25lbs I’m definitely lifting more than that suggested 25lb limit. ?  I’m more careful with my workouts, I don’t lie on my back, I lower the weight I lift towards the end, and I only do ab work that’s safe for pregnancy.  The one thing that changed a lot during my pregnancy last time was what I brought into our home. It was pregnancy that really started my journey to detox my home so this time I’m just keeping going with that to expose myself to as few toxic things as possible, I do what I can in our home, and I then don’t sweat what’s outside the home. You have to draw limits to keep peace! You can see all the products I use for everything HERE.

Honestly I’m not thinking about preparing, that will come in the Autumn, but being minimal in our purchases across the board we’ll buy as little new as possible as we already have a nursery kitted out with the cleanest stuff we could do, from cloth diapers to crib (see all our choices here) then we’ll buy second hand, borrow from friends, and maybe invest in a few new pieces – cos I definitely do have a little dream list!

In terms of preparing for birth, we have the same angel of a midwife we had with Clayton.  She was the reason I survived labour (!) and I love her.  My goal was to go drug free last time but my water broke (you can read that story HERE) so being in a hospital I had to have IV antibiotics and pitocin to induce me.  It gutted me, but I did manage to go pain-killer free which I absolutely want to do again. This time I’d love to go completely drug free but ultimately a healthy baby being delivered is my only real goal!!

I had dreams last time of a long pre birth reading list and being so informed and clued up. It was a joke. I read two books total. That said, those two books did change the way I did pregnancy and parented even from day 1 and I’m SO grateful for them. The titles sound like they’re just about food and sleep but they encompass everything and they gave me a grid within which to parent. I truly believe they are the reason I didn’t fully lose it, they’re how we got a nap schedule down, and have a baby who slept through the night at 11 weeks. I take no credit other than following the advice of these authors – so I’ll definitely be re reading!

So there you go, that’s the journey so far 1 trimester down and 2 to go. And I’ll keep you in on the journey as much as I can for those who are interested!